Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It (Hardcover)

by Terry Kupers Ph.D. (Author) "A very large number of prisoners today suffer from a mental disorder serious enough to require intensive psychiatric treatment..." (more)
Key Phrases: supermaximum control units, supermaximum security units, disordered felons, New York, Human Rights Watch, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Kupers, a forensic psychiatrist and psychology professor at the Wright Institute, has been an active observer at county jails for 25 years and has served as an expert witness in court cases involving treatment of prisoners. Here he delivers a powerful and constructive criticism of the attitudes prison professionals hold toward inmates and the way inmates are physically handled, especially the mentally disturbed but also women and racial minorites. He focuses on abysmal physical conditions, unsanitary and often physically threatening overcrowding, the traumatization and debasement of prisoners, worker burn-out, and woefully inadequate inpatient, psychiatric, or counseling services, contributing to increasing individual dysfunction and financed by taxpayers. Kupers concludes his cogent presentation by suggesting strategies for a quantum shift in mindset (madness no longer seen as badness) to realize a climate of, at least, support for the basic constitutional and human rights of prisoners. Highly recommended for academics and professionals.ASuzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfred
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A passionately argued and brilliantly written wake-up call to America about the myriad ways our penal systems brutalize our entire culture. Dr. Kupers not only diagnoses the problem, he also offers a set of solutions. I hope this book will be read by all concerned citizens and voters, for it conveys truths that are vitally important to all of us." (James Gilligan, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and author of Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic)

"A chilling picture of how American prisons have become among the most barbaric in the world driving petty offAnders and dangerous people alike into madness. We must consider the madness of a public policy that routinely turns nonviolent offAnders into dangerous misfits who threaten our safety when released." (Joseph D. McNamara, research fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and retired police chief, San Jose, California)

"Dr. Kupers reminds us that cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of inmates-particularly those who are mentally ill-violates their rights, betrays our national commitment to decency, and jeopardizes the safety of our communities. A splendid book." (Jamie Fellner, associate counsel, Human Rights Watch)

"Prison Madness reveals the disturbing realities of prisons and jails as places of coerced refuge for poor and mentally disordered people. With this powerful and provocative analysis of the intersecting crises in the public mental health and prison systems, Terry Kupers shows us how to contest the racism and the criminalization of poverty that have helped to produce these dangerous dilemmas." (Angela Y. Davis, professor, University of California, Santa Cruz)

" . . . Kupers had free access and unfettered contacts that few outsiders are afforded, and has credibility that few outsiders can acquire." (Hans Toch, from the Foreword)

"Prison Madness--with its cogent analysis of our correctional system and the mental health crisis within it--can serve as a much-needed beacon." (Readings: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (February 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787943614
• ISBN-13: 978-0787943615
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #555,185 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good read, good place to start real debate, October 6, 1999

By	Erich E. Geary (Texarkana, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was initially excited, because the premise of this book is that the mentally ill are being incarcerated and criminalized because of the failure of comunity mental health, and the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. Most people do not realize that the prisons are rapidly becomming the largest providers of mental health services, as is the case in TX. Kupers goes off track and has his own agenda. This book becomes a polemic for diagnosing all inmates as PTSD, just because they are in prison. His claim that as an outsider he is more than objective. I believe the book reports on many problems in a lot of prisons. I kept waiting for him to address, in a meaningful way, managed care and privatization of services. The issue of the mentally ill in prison is a growing problem. I would hope that those who read the book, will try to open dialog about the problems and possible solutions. I work for the managed care organization that provides mental heath services to TX prisons, and many of Kuper's points hit home. I have already recommended the book to my colleges.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, Timely, Sadly True, and Achingly Prophetic, May 6, 2001

By	"gpbp" (Richmond, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

Dr. Kupers writes honestly about where those who were "saved" by deinstitutionalization ended up and they way they are being treated. It is a scathing indictment of the utter failure of community mental health centers and the professionals practicing within them. It clearly shows how persons are forgotten, ignored or dismissed by community supports and the eventual freefall they experience into corrections. He artfully describes the negativistic labeling, i.e., Borderline or Antisocial Personality Disorders, and the damage done by such perjorative terms. Dr. Kupers shows clearly what is occurring in jails and prisons across the country and lets the reader know this is not the end of the story of the emptying of the hospitals, but the next chapter in the abuse/neglect of the most maligned and oppressed population in America. Thank you Dr. Kupers, for your courage, integrity, and honesty.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, a seminal work on mental health and prisoners., May 22, 1999

By A Customer

Dr. Kupers articulates in clear detail the serious problems confronting persons within the prison system. With an unfailing eye, he depicts the ravages extolled on prisoners in the name of justice and... expediency. The problems, most often, manifest in the form of mental health issues that custodial staff are incapable of addressing. Dr. Kupers suggest effective solutions for dealing with the mental health needs of the incarcerated and the needs of society at large. A must read for anyone in Corrections or Forensics.